big up hill battle

hello,

we have just moved into the a house which the garden has not been touched for 2 years !! the back garden is 1/2 acre in total so not small and is going to be alot of work !! got a coulple of questions :-

1) we have a large grass that has the large feather like things coming out of it, its about 6 ft high. we have been told that the previous owners used to burn it back it in spring !! does anybody know if this is the best thing ? not sure what the grass is called.

2) we have about 6 apple trees which ar totally over grown. how do i go about pruning them back ?? there are braches everywhere.

3) the lawn is totally over grown and alot of dead grass. i have cut it today but will need alot of work, has anybody got any advise about the best way to tackle it ??

any help appreciated.

thanks
neil :confused:

[ 19. March 2006, 08:11 PM: Message edited by: nskeates ]

 

Your grass is pampas grass, if you search on google you will see it. Its a lovely decorative plant and in the 60's and 70's we used to bring the feathery fronds into the house as flower arrangements. They can sometimes grow too big, but you have a big garden which can probably support a nice big pampas. Watch out when the leaves grow back again properly, they are incredibly sharp, like swords. In wet weather they can get quite bedraggled and look as though the feathery fronds are damaged but they dry out quite nicely after a rain. I imagine that they are dry and quite brittle at the moment so watch out! I used to set fire to mine when I lived in South Africa. This is done because its a prarie grass and its known that the regular fires that are on the praries clear away the dead growth and allow the new shoots room to grow. If you dont clear away the dead stuff it stays there, at the bottom of the plant, looking quite ugly and tangled. Its a lovely grass, enjoy it. If you dont have any luck on google, get back to me and I will paste some proper information for you. Good luck with your new garden!

 

Hi, Agree, sounds like pampas grass.
for ornamental vars. it is best NOT to burn, but to remove the dead leaves, and plume stems either by hand using protection, or by cutting with clippers just above the new looking growth, usually about 1-2 feet above ground, some other members use hedge trimmers (power) as mentioned in earlier posts on the site

 

Just mow the lawn regularly this first year & you'll probably be pleased with the result

 

In respect of the apple trees - the sap is rising and therefore I would not attack these til leaf fall in the autumn. At that time remove the crossing branches, and then prune back. You should be able to see the fruiting spurs - best not to prune these out - if you want apples next year :D